Graffiti Highway

“Centralia's abandoned highway”

This place is on private property. Listing for informational purposes only. Please do not visit without express permission from the land owner.
SINK HOLES AND FIRES ARE COMMON BE WARE
Because of the coal mine fire in Centralia, the original branch of Routes 54 and 61, which went from Centralia to Ashland, has been permanently closed because the road has severely opened up and buckled extensively.
This branch was repaired in 1983 for $500,000; then in 1992 it was deemed too expensive to repair again. In 1994, the branch was permanently closed, and as of result, graffiti were scattered along the closed portion of the roadway. In 1999, Byrnesville Road (Quadrant Route 2002), located directly south of the closed section of PA 61, was upgraded and now carries PA 61, bypassing the section of PA 61 which was damaged by the underground mine fire in Centralia.
PA 54 formerly ran concurrent with PA 61 through Centralia but was rerouted along Pennsylvania Route 901 and three quadrant routes in 1999, completely bypassing Centralia. Nowadays, only PA 61 goes through Centralia while PA 54 now goes directly from Ashland to Mount Carmel along the aforementioned alignment via PA 901. The road signs for PA 54 were removed from Centralia several years ago. Routes 54 and 61 meet up again at an intersection just outside of Mount Carmel.